Success for Everyone

 Success depends on a plus condition of mind and body, on power of work, on courage. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enough of scary headlines and dire predictions. And that, my friend, includes the frightening stories we tell ourselves and the disbelieving comments that cripple us at every turn.

Every morning I wake up to a choice: Will I believe that low energy whine that tells me, “You’ll never succeed, the obstacles are too overwhelming, and besides, you wouldn’t be in this place if you could anything right.” If I listen to that voice, I’ll never get out of bed. 

Or will I choose to listen to a more subtle voice that says, “Accept that things are not as you would like them to be. Accept that you played your part in co-creating these circumstances. But do not accept that you are helpless in the face of these difficult truths. Instead, choose to trust God (and yourself) in a new way today. Release your regrets and set aside your fears. Do today’s work with your whole heart. Live in the moment and plan for success.”

That inspiring voice also says, “Take small steps in the right direction and trust that you will be led. Believe that you are a child of God, and you are greater than any conditions that life presents. You can create better conditions, with the help of Spirit, if you’ll just see yourself as a powerful spiritual being capable of creating amazing things. Even in loss and failure the human spirit can triumph, and unexpected victories can come to the heart that believes.”

One day when I was feeling anxious, I took a small positive step and bought a book. Cash in a Flash: Fast Money in Slow Times by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen gave me lots of ideas for building my business and taking positive action to create a life I love. Since then, I have been sorting through empowering ideas and choosing to listen to my “inner winner” instead of my “inner whiner.” 

One other idea I have taken from the book: create a mastermind group. So now I’m having regular meetings with three of the most powerful women I know. These ladies are survivors who know how to thrive, who never give up, and who have created meaningful lives out of the ashes of their failures and losses. They inspire me to do the same, and to believe that even when things feel like they are falling apart, they are also coming together. A new and better pattern is replacing the old ways.

Our mastermind group is reading through the book and applying the lessons from Cash in a Flash. We are discussing some great ideas for co-creating and collaborating on projects. We encourage and pray daily for each other as we make progress toward building happier and more prosperous lives. 

Inspired quotes

A self-pitying life is a doomed life. Only the life which deliberately picks up and starts over again is victorious. -James Gordon Gilkey

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall. -Confucius

Men were born to succeed, not to fail. -Henry David Thoreau

If we want more roses, we must plant more trees! -George Eliot

The thing we wish to do, then, is to find a faith greater than our fears, whether they are fears of people, of conditions, of life, or of death. Such faith is born out of a complete conviction of the eternal destiny of one’s own soul and of all other souls. -Ernest Holmes

Affirmative prayer 

From this moment on, life is forever changed for me in magnificent, prosperous, and graceful ways. All things are unfolding for the highest good and there is no resistance, only divine timing and perfect peace. Love is the true motivation for all I do, even in the simplest routines of my daily life. I now claim God’s great idea of amazing success and vision to help, heal, and touch the world.